Austria: Why The Hell Aren't They In NATO? - TLDR News

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Austria has a long history of neutrality, but Putin's invasion of Ukraine is forcing many in the country to reconsider. So in this video we discuss Austria's new conversation around NATO and why some might finally be considering membership.
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[@DenDave_]

Why would they join honestly. Austria, together with Switzerland, pretty much enjoy all of NATO's protection by being completely surrounded by NATO members, without having to meet it's demands. Their neutrality would only be a danger if NATO itself declared war on Austria and/or Switzerland.

[@mdumiseninsibande3071]

Exactly

[@BritishRoyalMapping]

Why would nato declare war on them though? Austria is a huge ally of Germany and no one wants to upset Germany, and as for Switzerland it’s like an undiscussed rule that no one can attack Switzerland, if someone invaded Switzerland that attacker would see 100X the sanctions that of what Russia did for invading Ukraine Austria is a big nato ally so it would make sense for them to join but they are also like Switzerland very neutral however they might join just because their allies are in nato. Switzerland would never join though

[@dennisruud825]

@@BritishRoyalMapping it was just saying that the only way it needed to were if nato attacked them, implying that its incredibly unlikely,, dont overthink it bro

[@realtimestatic]

Or a NATO country got invaded and they would border a hostile state

[@IapetusStag]

Maybe in an alternate universe, NATO invaded.

[@fixpontt]

Austria was extremely lucky after ww2 that the soviets willingly withdrew 10 years later! Unfortunately many coutries in the region were not that lucky.

[@kerrynball2734]

Soviets kept to the Yalta deal, the west ditched the deal and expanded NATO.

[@stekra3159]

Well, we had a govermet that was recognised by both allys by 1945 ad a united front of both parties agreeing to support independence pushing for it and them being useful to the occupiers in giving them a shred of legitimacy. Giving them what they want does not seem as crazy. We wher lucky but we also worked our buts of

[@wizzotizzo]

@@kerrynball2734 looks like you fell for propaganda

[@Koczu0]

@@kerrynball2734 What deal? xD stop drinking sasha

[@tyr404]

@@kerrynball2734 lmao communist bot, all Soviets collapsed and changed regime in 1990s, other countries in Eastern Europe willingly applied to NATO. Free will is something that you won't ever understand. Back to licking russian propaganda :)

[@Koellenburg]

i served in the Austrian army. Summer we fill Sandbags when the floods come, winter we shovel Snow from Roofs, if it snows to much. we still got a purpose :)

[@maximilianusofmarchaorient596]

And our current system would send millions of people not trained to fight (people that served the mandatory term doing a minimal amount of actual shooting just learning how to do their beds) in case we actually get attacked one day due to the draft system with the small professional army being understaffed and underequipped as well. Wonderful. And then we will ask those for help we refused to give a single dime in support.

[@UnholyWrath3277]

@@maximilianusofmarchaorient596 except the only possible enemy you have in the current system would be Nato lol. They wouldn't allow a foreign aggressor to go thru their land to reach Austria so joining nato just gives you all the negatives when you already have all the positives lol

[@A190xx]

And now a career in Hollywood and governorship of a US state?

[@ems4884]

@@UnholyWrath3277 this is not actually entirely true. I'm not sure why this line gets repeated so much. You're only thinking of land invasions. It's perfectly possible for Russia to attack Austria by air or using missiles from afar. Yes, they'd need to get past defenses in a couple Slavic nations but that doesn't rule out the possibility. Stealth technology, high elevation flights, large numbers of planes at once and nuclear missiles could ask find their way to Austria if Russia decides to attack the weak points in the European coalition first. Putin has declared Austria an enemy nation. Austria's prosperity is dependent on security and prosperity of the rest of the EU. It's probably time for Austrians to rethink their security policy.

[@UnholyWrath3277]

@@ems4884 nato would not allow russia to fly military sorties or shoot missles over q half dozen nato countries to reach austria. Russia also has its hands already full making the point moot

[@TecraX2]

Turkey: "We have no objections against Austria joining NATO" Turkey the same day as Austria applies: "We have NOTHING BUT objections against Austria joining NATO"

[@monsieur558]

Yes and i think they enjoy pissing them off 🤪

[@newbeatsgo9577]

Austria: "We cant join NATO because we are neutral but we can stop Turkey from ever joining the EU" Austria the same day as Turkey applies: "Still nope for Turkey but Ukraine and Moldova get EU candidate status" i think its really true, we enjoy pissing each other off xD

[@nicklombard610]

Under current circumstances, I don't trust Turkey.

[@Arbaaltheundefeated]

Turkey under Erdogan loves to blackmail their "allies" for every concession possible. Their strategic position gives them immunity and thus they behave with impunity.

[@Jefff72]

Austria: €€€€€€ to Turkey Turkey: OK

[@stuartlacey677]

"Russo-Austrian relations have hit an all time low" WW1: "Am I a joke to you?"

[@Ch-xk5tv]

also in WW2

[@th0mas_papill0n3]

Wish we could turn back time to the good ol' days of partitioning of Poland 😔😔

[@goli8699]

@@Ch-xk5tv During World war 2, Austria didn't exists.

[@Ch-xk5tv]

@@goli8699 Hitler himself, beside many others, was Austrian. Austria was still there. Austria, beside Germany, is also guilty for the crimes of the Nazi regime. Russia did also exist before 1992, but it wasn't called Russia.

[@goli8699]

@@Ch-xk5tv So, First, Hitler very much did Not See himself as Austrian and very much did Not wanted the Austrians to See themselves as Austrian, and second, saying Austria existed during the second world war would be Like saying that Poland Still existed because they could still speak Polish in some places.

[@renatob9909]

I think Austria is not in NATO because being surrounded by NATO members it would make it difficult for Russia to attack them without having to violate NATO airspace, so they are basically protected by NATO without having to pay for NATO membership. The same goes for Switzerland.

[@ricardo53100]

You are right. They are spongers. Austria ought to pay an insurance policy to NATO and forget membership.

[@sinoroman]

not worth it due to their geography. plus, NATO demands land, human, and monetary capital from members

[@user-jd7gh2ef4s]

Guess what would have happened if Ukraine surrendered to Russia? Russian force would be at the border of Hungary or Slovakia, not that far away from Austria. Most US troops have been withdraw from Europe, Germany isn't in a condition to defend anybody else, and Austria wouldn't stop any Russian fighter jets with its 15 Eurofighters. Am sure France wouldn't bother, because Austria and Switzerland would protect a part of its eastern flank 🤣 Only thanks to Ukraine and the US, this scenario didn't come true. If you want peace, prepare for war!

[@hitman5782]

@@user-jd7gh2ef4s One thing i do not understand is, why nobody seems to understand that Russia will never attack Nato and Nato would never attack Russia. Everyone with more than 2 braincells should be able to understand that such a war would have no winners.

[@user-jd7gh2ef4s]

@@hitman5782 For sure Russia wouldn't invade with Russian soldiers, Russia is always innocent. Maybe, you should use your brain as well. They would have invaded NATO countries the same way as they invaded part of Ukraine in 2014.

[@shofinger6853]

Austrian here, generally good overview and pretty much spot on. One point though regarding your last sentence: Austria isn't really taking the question about Nato y/n more seriously, its hardly making headlines and no one really talks about it. Its far away from being a serious discussion or even consideration, with the chancellor (Nehammer) recently having said that "neutrality is not up for debate, end of discussion." Also, among the populus the opinion that neutrality is somehow a magic shield that helps you evade everything bad that could happen to your country is pretty much engrained in people's minds and sadly leaves little room for an informed discussion.

[@FlorianHWave]

It's not up for debate because the vast majority wants to keep the neutrality. It was the ÖVP who questioned it and therefore put our country on Russias "hostile countries" list, which now makes it a lot harder to buy gas from them. Barely anyone amongst the normal population wants to give it up.

[@vipecrx]

yeah, not like belgium or luxembourg were neutral in the 30s..oh wait... The only country that can enforce its neutrality is switzerland because they have "all their money". Even they had to acoomodate for germans during the war.

[@vanbaguette7368]

@@FlorianHWave When did the ÖVP question neutrality? NEOS started the debate about NATO membership.

[@csfelfoldi]

Also a thing all these videos miss is that the EU has a common defense clause. Technically if Russia attacked Finland tomorrow, the whole of the EU would be at war with Russia. While the US being out would be a great blow, they would still support and might even just outright join militarily in order to protect the other NATO members in the EU. So from this perspective it makes even less sense for Austria to join.

[@dominuslogik484]

Ah Austria, of the major Germanic speaking countries in continental Europe, it is my favorite.

[@MareTranquil]

As an Austrian, there are really two major reasons why we just won't join NATO anytime soon: The first, as mentioned in the video, is that it's just so damn cozy being surrounded by NATO countries without having to contribute. But the second, not mentioned one: Many austrians don't exactly see NATO (and their de facto leader, the USA) necessarily as the good guys. Many people view the american war in Iraq simply as an evil war of aggression, not really different from the evil crap that Russia does (there is probably a chicken-egg-dynamic with our neutrality going on here). And we don't want to be part of that. Now that view might have changed somewhat with the Ukraine invasion, but that's really only because Ukraine is in Europe and not in some faraway place.

[@ratatatuff]

Exactly. As long as Nato is used as a tool for US imperialism I'm opposed to joining.

[@YMandarin]

+1 from another Austrian

[@PbPomper]

I think actually most EU memberstates do.

[@rhonamccaw8755]

Surely the fact that they are ordered by the NATO rules there should not be any question about singling out USA.... they have proved they want World peace unlike Russia who the world has sanctioned for their lack of respect of another sovereign country in which they have illegally attacked and lied about doing so to this day ... I understand that they were unsure however Russia broke the nato alliance and are being punished for it.... Usa would indeed have the same done to them if they had done what Russia has done.....

[@Gaehhn]

That's exactly why some EU-countries want their own European military alliance that does not include the US. It's just become more and more clear over the last decade that US ideals and EU ideals don't overlap in many aspects and the US is not necessarily the reliable ally it once was perceived as.

[@divine1448]

"Even invited Putin to her wedding" That has been Austrian foreign policy for centuries

[@brainletmong6302]

Putin confirmed several century old vampire?

[@rimacalid6557]

@@brainletmong6302 Putin an old british vampire Spy

[@ratatatuff]

What a stupid comment.

[@BJ-zd2or]

Yes, but they are neatural. As UK is in nato obviously would react with some bit of pressuring judgement.

[@sinoroman]

austria is a good place, i like austria and their little politics

[@skape924]

2:33 Austria joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program. *Shows a UN Flag above Austria*

[@PeterMasalski93]

Austria is like that kid whose father is a cop, uncle is a Mafiosi and brother is a professional MMA fighter.

[@ems4884]

Are those metaphors for Germany, Italy and Switzerland?

[@Namirius]

To the point... but hey, it's a pretty cool an nice kid neverthless

[@cat-.-]

Austria's flag looked so much like a "DO NOT ENTER" traffic sign maybe that's why it hasn't entered NATO

[@mab9614]

Well... Austria is home to both the Terminator and Hercules. There’s no need to join.

[@Gumardee_coins_and_banknotes]

And Conan.

[@romanianturk2101]

and funnt mustache man

[@kw2142]

U do know he lives in America?

[@daemonofharmonia585]

And Hilter birthplace .

[@hughjass1044]

I feel about Austria the same as I do about Ireland. I haven't a concern in the world about either one. Neither country is a threat to anyone and each has made and continues to make, valuable contributions to world order in their own ways. There is nothing wrong with having a few trusted "neutral" states around who can speak truth to either side in ways an aligned country never could. And besides; like Ireland, I have no doubt whose side Austria would be on if the day ever came when they absolutely had to pick one. As a citizen and former soldier of a NATO country (Canada), I would love to have Austria on board and would warmly welcome them if they ever did decide to join. I've worked with soldiers from both countries in the past and each are first rate. But I respect their decision to stay neutral and their reasons for it. They are a valued and trusted ally who can and does contribute in a whole host of other ways.

[@tysonb3568]

U mean contributions like Adolf...??🤔 And Swirzerland stole from Jews, funded World Wars and stole art from all over europe and made money from fencing operations. Pleease

[@sinoroman]

the US doesn't expect austria nor ireland to rise into a great power, so they can be left alone

[@hughjass1044]

@@tysonb3568 Maybe you can move forward a few decades and quit living in the past.

[@fadeout1827]

As an Austrian I thank you for these words. :)

[@ulrichkierberger1698]

I wish you the best, brother across the big lake :)

[@theviennesecafe8537]

Austrian here: Austria as you rightly said is engrained with being neutral ever since the second world war. The older generations and especially the generations where family members still tell/told stories from the second world war are very aware what it means to be neutral, at peace and the cost of such a war and how people struggled during and afterwards. Also the subject of the Nazi regime and the second World war gets extensively taught in schools which in my opinion is also immensely important so that people stay conscious of what happened back then and to never let it happen again. Austria has always played a role since then to be a mediator and/or creating space for discussions to be held, to this day there are several meetings every year from different agencies that come to meet and discuss and mediate in Austria because it is neutral ground. We enjoy being neutral and the status it has brought Austria the last several decades! I myself grew up hearing stories from my grandparents, some of which had to flee Poland and others who were fighting the nazi regime and some who were part of that regime. It has shaped my world view. We study the build up and the fall of the nazi regime and the second world war extensively in school and therefore every one (or at least the majority) know of the horrors of the times and vowed to never let that happen again. A nation with no military actions, no military alliances, a place for mediation, conversation and respect. Thats why austria is neutral. I know this was a bit of a rambling but i had to add something to this

[@Arbaaltheundefeated]

It's easy to be neutral and idealistic when surrounded by friends, threatened by precisely nobody.

[@theviennesecafe8537]

@@Arbaaltheundefeated We used the chance to make friends through our status and from the knowledge of our past in order to live in a neutral and idealistic way..... yes. true that a lot of countries dont have that privilege but austria worked hard in order to get to that status.

[@stekra3159]

@@Arbaaltheundefeated We stood at the Iron curten with guns for over 35 years.

[@hamzamahmood9565]

Only one condition for Austria to join NATO: Accept all art school applicants

[@pebo8306]

LOL!Someone really knows history!Kudos!

[@kostakatsoulis2922]

Also get a strip of territory like a millimeter wide going all the way to the Mediterranean, its called the NORTH ATLANTIC Treaty Orgnaization after all

[@AustriaCH]

* Laughs in Austrian * This was the funniest comment i saw today 😂

[@vanbaguette7368]

Everytime we tried to solve our problems with military might, it went horribly. We were always meant to be a diplomatic power, not a military force. That was always our northern neighbours job.

[@sirxander5420]

We even outsourced an angry little man to the north

[@adhirbose9910]

Which did not end very well for them.

[@dominuslogik484]

I guess if you think all the way back to the poorly named "holy Roman empire" your statement still rings true lol. It was less about war and more about inter principality politics before a certain over ambitious Frenchman set the stage for the rise of Prussia.

[@tudormardare66]

Still, you ought to contribute militarily and financially to NATO, as you enjoy the security of the alliance.

[@dominuslogik484]

@@tudormardare66 they don't have to contribute anything

[@majorfallacy5926]

To me as an austrian this video was sort of a test on how trustworthy this channel is in general and I'd say you passed pretty well. Only thing I would've liked to seen added is that both the wedding and the ibiza scandal (as well as pretty much all other russia related scandals) represents the stance of Austrias far-right party, not the country itself. Putin has been using far right parties all across the west to his advantage (cough Trump), he just had especially easy access in Austria.

[@Dodsodalo]

Trump wasn't Putin's friend. He fucking threatened to bomb Moscow immediately, in his first meeting with Putin, if he tried to start a war in Ukraine, during his term. Same with Beijing, Xi, and Taiwan. Man also tried to get Europe off of Russian fuel, and was mocked by the left, then called Putin's friend. So, no, he was not. And America is a FAR different thing than Europe. America has ALWAYS been further to the right than Europe. Especially with the Communism vs Capitalism of the cold war thing. So, no, Putin doesn't really have a lot of influence in the American right wing, because all of it's support for like 80 years was pre established AWAY from Russia. East and Central Europe didn't have that.

[@sebastiangruenfeld141]

Considering the FPÖ is according to you "far-right" they did little to no "far-right" stuff when they were part of the government.

[@whitezombie10]

Yes all right parties have been used by Putin except for the Polish one. Poland is led by the right but still confirmed to be against Russia and even started to heavily rearm itself. At least Poland remembers what Russia did to it

[@jochenzimmermann5774]

as another austrian - nope. the övp has had close ties to russia for decades. especially in the schüssel and kurz era both övp and fpö did everything to further our dependence on russian gas. who cares about putin bombing children (chechnya, georgia, syria, ukraine) if they get a job guarantee (schüssel, schelling, kneissl, leitl...). who torpedoed the kyoto protocol and is responsible for the 400 million euro fine we had to pay for that? schwarz-blau. who torpedoed the paris agreement and will be responsible for the 10 billion euro fine we're gonna have to pay for that? schwarz-blau. and the spö isn't much better, gusenbauers first foreign trip as chancellor was to russia, which shouldn't come as a surprise since he used to kiss the red square in the 80ies. and just like kern after him, putin and his ilk rewarded him with a well paying job.

[@majorfallacy5926]

@@jochenzimmermann5774 You're right, I guess the FPÖ just are the most prominent ones. Though the difference is that vp and sp have generally tried to "play both sides" to varying degrees of success, while the fp is openly russias bitch. Also I'm fairly sure that Kern's position wasn't a reward for pro russian policy but an attempt to gain access to his party network. That's why he immediately laid down his position while Schüssel didn't.

[@Leptospirosi]

What stands out about Austria is its geographical position: after the end of the cold war, Austria found itself, like Swiss, completely enveloped by NATO country, which automatically protect its territory from outside invasion. For this reason, and for its small population and military budget, it is more useful for Austria and NATO to be separate. Being inside NATO would bring little benefit for Austria or for NATO, while relinquishing every convenience for having a friendly neutral nation in Europe which could act as Diplomatic facility

[@AntonGudenus]

This is exactly why Austria is not interested in joining NATO. We simply don't see the benefit and don't have the capacity to defend other countries militarily anyway. Nobody could invade us without declaring war on NATO anyway, except for our neighbours, with whom we are all on more than friendly terms and without territorial grievances. Being a neutral friendly country hosting quite a few UN institutions is a very beneficial arrangement for both Austria and its neighbours. Joining NATO would offer no benefits in this situation.

[@chadliampearcy]

@@AntonGudenus What if Nato invades and divides the spoils?

[@AntonGudenus]

@@chadliampearcy There is no reasonable way for this to happen. Just to list a few of the reasons why this thought is absurd: - NATO doesn't invade any other countries to conquer them. They are a defensive alliance. Nations apply to join and hope to be admitted; instead of being forced into an "alliance" at the tip of the sword like the pacts like the Warsaw Pact. - Austrias neighbours have little to gain from destroying a trusty ally and economic partner. And much more to gain from peacefully trading with them. - Not to mention the fact that Austria is a member of the EU and therefore shares a currency and open borders with most of its neighbours. - Being EU members kind of makes Austria and its neighbours already part of the same super-country. - So there literally is 0 gains to be had for any of our neighbours in invading Austria. - Also due to European history not a single of its neighbouring countries has any territorial grievances with Austria. All this is making this question quite absurd, not to say laughable.

[@chadliampearcy]

@@AntonGudenus Then.. Liechtenstein should be the one to conquer both Switzerland and Austria. Fulfill your destiny! Start your Hero's Journey! We're routing for you.

[@AntonGudenus]

@@chadliampearcy Why though? There is absolutely no need or use for that. Especially since "form its own union" would be a break of neutrality.

[@whitezombie10]

There is no advantage in Austria joining NATO. NATO won't attack Austria and no one can possibly arrive to the Austrian border unless NATO falls, but I don't think anyone would be too much interested in attacking Austria, unless Germany goes for a 4th reich

[@Temo990]

Technically not fully true. NATO countries could allow foreign units to pass through. And remember NATO is not a country. It could be a single NATO country which has problems with Austria like Italy who has a very close border area. In that case NATO probably wouldn't go against its own member.

[@whitezombie10]

@@Temo990 yeah but I think it would be hard for a neighbour to decide to attack it or let foreign troops pass. NATO has all interests in keeping the status quo in Europe especially in these hard times where influence on other areas is all but guaranteed. Anyway I am really happy of finally finding this channel

[@Astro_Guy_1]

@@Temo990 NATO would never allow foreign troops to cross their borders, especially if it's a democratic + neutral + EU country. It's so a nonsensical scenario that there is no point even wasting a second on it.

[@whitezombie10]

@@awesomedude4428 yeah I know I was just saying that it would be the only situation in which someone would actually decide to attack a small and weak nation like Austria

[@AustriaCH]

Germany?more like austria if they reject another application they're will be a 4th reich lol *tbh i don't wanna get invaded again so yeah yk*

[@andrijherasymenko]

It is easy being neutral when surrounded by friendly nations. Try to live next to a freaking russia

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

Was not always that way, once there was something that was called the Iron Curtain and there was something called the Warsaw pact - over 50 years surrounded by much bigger states with more mitlitary power. Austria was great in diplomacy and neutral ... best thing to be!!!

[@juancarlosalonso5664]

Clever_mag_Smart In the past? Sure. Not now. Being neutral now is just opportunism and taking advantage of their NATO neighbors, this coming from someone born and raised in Switzerland… this neutrality was smart in the past but now these countries are using it to have the cake and eat it too.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Well, we basically did until the fall of the iron curtain, so don't go calling us cowards, ok? 1955-1990. That's not nothing. And the world needs a few neutral places where peace talks and negotiations and stuff can be held. I would not be surprised if we might yet get to play a role as a bridge builder again.

[@sinoroman]

not worth it due to their geography. plus, NATO demands land, human, and monetary capital from members

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

@@juancarlosalonso5664 I am Austrian. The neutrality was something the 4 vitors forced on us to become independant again. We pledge to be neutral and now we are evil because we have the integraty to keep what whe have promised? We paid for our security longer than we have been sorrounded by NATO. Before the colapse of the USSR, half of the Austrian terretory was surrunded by Warsaw pact members. We never NATO has to pay for us. When the former members of the Warsaw pact decided to join NATO, we became on behalf of their wishes sorrunded by the NATO. I your words the backed the cake around us and we were not present in this kitchen. Go fight wars if you must and ego tells you that its worth it, but don´t lecture others what they have to do, grant other countries the right to decide for themself ... otherwise you are not better than the Russians and very far from a democratic mindset.

[@f-86zoomer37]

Isn't it funny how every state that is neutral and doesn't want to join NATO isn't bordering Russia? Really says a lot about Russia.

[@dbergerac9632]

NATO does not exist to attack Russia; it exists to defend against Russia. If one NATO member is attacked, all will respond; but if one attacked Russia, most would be like: "What'd you do THAT for?" The world knows where the aggressors live.

[@siegfriedvonwimpffen1257]

Finnland was neutral until russia started bullying Ukraine

[@KPHTvOfficial]

@@bololollek9245 and now NATO is trying to stop Russia on Ukraine for the same Humanitarian reason.

[@jonathanodude6660]

@@bololollek9245 they didnt want independence. there was basically a small civil war going on at the time and russia tried to intervene to change the outcome from the inside when they were blocked by a ukrainian militia that had formed in response to their imposition. when the dust settled, russia was trying to strengthen their position in the country while the militia were accepted as part of the ukrainian armed forces to legitimise the opposition to the ongoing russian invasion.

[@777arksMa77_RGM]

NATO is the new Nazi since Finland always polically alligned with EU

[@raphaelantonrainer]

As an Austrian, I just want to add that there really aren't a lot of people who want to join NATO except some weird politicians. In fact most people are quite strongly against joining. My personal Opinion is that we should just beef up our "Army" to an extent that we can actually call it Army and stay out of NATO.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Why are people so against it?

[@evawettergren7492]

Honestly, as a Swede I agree with the Austrian stance on neutrality. Someone should stay out of things and be able to act as a mediator. And since Austria isn't feeling unsafe, just keep going as you are. It is clearly working quite well. I would have loved to have Sweden stay neutral forever too, but can't really argue with the shift of view considering how things are developing. Finland joining NATO makes it pretty much a done deal for Sweden as well and nobody can blame Finland for wanting some back up.

[@jurgenpetry6899]

@@TomorrowWeLive This is hard to explain. Even on an individual level Austrians have place big value on “not being bothered/ not bothering others”. And in general we just like to be left alone. And historically: After the empire was destroyed we were struggling to find our own identity, but after the war we were doing pretty well with neutrality. And lastly: Joining NATO means militarliy joining with Germany, and you might want to consider the last 2 times this happened.

[@Ch-xk5tv]

​@@TomorrowWeLive It's an important part of the Austrian national identity. After a famous Austrian Politician invaded several countries, started a War, etc. the Austrians said they are fed up with wars. Then, we started to focus only on our own country, that's why we are neutral.

[@raphaelantonrainer]

@@evawettergren7492 Very much agree

[@TheAustrianAnimations87]

I've been waiting for this video. As an Austrian I can say that being part of the EU is enough (look EU article 42) and we Austrians are not willing to be involved in more wars as we already fought many in history. Not to mention that we are surrounded by NATO states and we're pretty safe. We just need a strong military like Switzerland to defend ourselves. As from now, the vast majority of Austrians and none of the major political parties even think about giving up our neutrality.

[@p.alterego3424]

thats a conflict of logic. either you are safe with nato around you and then you dont need an army. or you arnt then you need also no army. bcs if something can defeat nato. lets say austria is then also no thread. and if nato is your enemy, then you are surounded by enemys and lets say you get outsieged..... so neither way you need an army

[@LuciferOnEarth1234]

@@p.alterego3424 As an Austrian I fully agree. We don't need an army and we should stick the money into an professional full time natural disaster response unit, which should help across Europe. I, and many others of my generation, declined military service(6 months) and rather chose community service(9 months) instead. I myself was already called a "traitor to our fatherland" by an old retired soldier I HELPED as an EMT. This event is still making me angry, as I am proud of my community service work and still stayed as a volluntary EMT after it ended, which helped my country and its people probably more then he did in his whole life.

[@prion42]

@@LuciferOnEarth1234 service is service. Don't give that guy any more thought .

[@wardogmobius]

Austria and Switzerland should contribute to Nato and Ukraine war effort. The Eastern Block countries are the cannon foder that are keeping the russians at bay while you all live comfortable lives. Thats very unfair and your country you be boycotted and blockaded economicly so to contribute to the war effort. At least send material, weapons, humanitarian aid, armed forces to train Ukrainian troops, etc.. It doesn't have to involve killing russian soldiers. Pathetic wimps. When WW3 starts, you better be ready.

[@maslauer6411]

I think I have to add that our military (except Jagdkomanndo) is literally shit

[@AdmiralKarlDonuts]

Cuz something sussy might happen if the Vienna Art Academy rejects an angry applicant again.

[@alizamanik]

These videos are so so so cool and informational! Thank you so much for these. I've learned a lot about the geopolitical subjects regarding Europe and certain countries... something that I find really interesting and helpful.

[@MaxiTB]

The FPÖ wasn't replace by the ÖVP - after the FPÖ scandal during the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition, there were reelections and the ÖVP and the Green party formed a coalition. In other words, the FPÖ was replaced by the Green party, but that had no effect on Russian-Auistrian relationship; it was actually the invasion of Ukraine.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Don't forget we had almost 1 year of this "expert government" that was installed by the president after the scandal. First time ever I've really seen our president doing something that was more than just ceremonial.

[@MaxiTB]

@@TheFeldhamster The role of the president is a safe guard against a undemocratic government, so yes, it's pretty much the point of the job to stay in the background as long as everything runs like intended. Considering it's one person in a country of 9 mio, I'd say that's money well invested :-).

[@TheFeldhamster]

@@MaxiTB true. I didn't want to imply that our presidents are usually lazy, it's just that I was surprised to see a president "in action" for once. I'm old enough to have known Kirchschläger, so...

[@MaxiTB]

@@TheFeldhamster Kirchschläger was indeed a long, long time ago. I was born two years after he became president. Those times feel these days so far away...

[@richardengland7138]

So a bit like going out for a drink with someone who never buys a round .

[@Emanon...]

_"Military analysts recommending a military spending of 2,5% of GDP to be able to defend themselves from invasion"_ (paraphrasing). Invasion from who exactly? Martians? Unless you're a major weapons manufacturer, spending that much on your defence if you're under _no threat whatsoever_ is effectively burning cash and resources that could benefit the economy if it were instead spent on infrastructure, health, education or even tax deductions.

[@kiwi36O]

You been living under a rock?

[@arty5876]

This depends on the scale of threat from abroad

[@Emanon...]

@@kiwi36O Russia spends 70 billion USD on their military. NATO spends 1.3 trillion USD. Almost X 20. Even if you correlate for PPP it's still about X 10 the military spending of Russia. And that's assuming that the Russian economy can recover after the war and fully reconstitute their (evidently pitiful) military strength and manpower. So no, I'm very much well informed about the current affairs. I'm just not a basic bitch that lets media jingo and political demagogues decide what's best for me and mine. Savvy?

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

@@arty5876 The threat is not minimezed by more weapons ... more likely that someone would use them. More exchange, understanding and diplomatic approches will possibly work out better. By reducing the arsenals and redirecting the money to social wealth it is more likly that noone is willing to join a war ... like it is with crime rates.

[@Google_Censored_Commenter]

Building up an army is something that takes years, if not decades. You don't just spend a bunch of money - and boom you have a military. So yes, while they're not under threat now, if Russia or China were to be succesful in a ww3 style invasion of the west, they could potentially have them up at their border before they have the time to build up a comprehensible defense. Not to mention that modern wars today are faught from the sky, not the ground.

[@charliemagnebautista2902]

I've also found some people in Twitter are furious that Finland and Sweden is joining NATO, some of them saying it's "western imperialism" to defy Putin

[@getnohappy]

Those people need to look up imperialism in the dictionary

[@zimtwiers9726]

How is that western imperialism. They join voluntarily and are basically unrestricted regarding foreign policy.

[@getnohappy]

@@zimtwiers9726 "accuse your opponent of that which you are guilty" as they say. Ya man Putin making overt reference to 'reuniting' the Russian empire? Well just yell 'western imperialism' and relax. All is well.

[@davez325]

More like globalism...Imperialism isn't that far off of a neighbor.

[@miradinic870]

You people forget that Russia has attacked Finland before, and as a result Finland has lost some eastern territory but withstood Russia with efforts of their army, which is now much bigger and stronger. Russia keeps making threats and Finland has the right idea. Their neutrality won't help when Adolf Putin decides that he wants Finland, purportedly belonging to Russia eons ago. In order to resist maniac and protect its people, they do what they have to do to stay free of "tsar wannabe".

[@philippedefechereux8740]

Thank you. I've been wondering about that question for 3 months. Well done!

[@IapetusStag]

Why join NATO when you are already surrounded by NATO. Free defense at no extra cost. xD

[@lovableulloriaqtomeetyu]

Correct one it pierce through

[@sinoroman]

not worth it due to their geography. plus, NATO demands land, human, and monetary capital from members

[@felixweinlinger]

Finally I've waited so long for TLDR news to finally make a video about austria

[@vanbaguette7368]

Yeah! I was wondering how many scandals have to happen in our country until we finally get that honor.

[@felixweinlinger]

@@vanbaguette7368 for real there was always something else happening in some other place

[@davidmehling4310]

Since Germany was formally divided into DDR and BRD in 1949 with Soviet forces in the former and US, British, and French in the latter, no doubt Austrians by 1955 realized either take the deal on neutrality or hello East Austria and West Austria formally or factually for the foreseeable future. Any realistic chance of Austria being invaded ended 1989

[@stekra3159]

Yes in 1956 we had the Bundesheer reformed and wher standing at the Hungarian border as the soviets repressed a rebellion ther telling the soviets we were defending our territory. (don't let this spill over here) And we stood at the Hungarian border with armed soldiers for 36 years until we and Hungary were to first to open the Iron curtain in 1986. And we still patroled the border until hungry joind schengen until 1995

[@AEHTSCH]

As an austrian, I can say that this is a very accurate video, well done!

[@Jefff72]

I have been to Austria four times and absolutely loved it! Ich hab Österreich lieb! I'm American

[@der.Schtefan]

After WW2, Austria was occupied by the 4 winners. It was so traumatizing that when in 1955 we had all occupiers leave our country having promised neutrality henceforth, we never ever wanted to have anything to do with war again. Germany had to wait till 1990 until they were "free" after the war.

[@FrikInCasualMode]

Oh, you were traumatized by occupation? (proceeds to laugh his ass off in Polish). You poor dear.

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

pfff "free" 🤣 - LoL

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

@@FrikInCasualMode War has no winners, everyside lost back then and will lose in all upcomming wars. The question who suffered most is quite easy ... ordanary people, in all countries the war raged in. Also I would think when we really should state someone out as who had suffered most ... that would be the jewish people.

[@josephjoestar9233]

@@clever_mag_smart5655 nah stop tryna play the "big" guy. Throughout World War Two, 950,000 Austrians fought for Nazi Germany's armed forces.

[@jamessloven2204]

Declaring neutrality worked very well for Belgium.

[@AchyutChaudhary]

Would love to see videos about the other 3 🇪🇺EU members about NATO membership too: 🇮🇪Ireland, 🇨🇾Cyprus, and 🇲🇹Malta. Edit: he has already done Ireland!

[@simondahl5437]

They did Ireland. The title is exactly the same, just switch Austria to Ireland.

[@barondavisiscool]

He has literally linked the others made in the description

[@timurdemirkan5272]

Cyprus will never be in as long as Turkey vetoes it, dunno about Malta, do they even have a Military ? Also Ireland pretty much seems neutral

[@AchyutChaudhary]

@@timurdemirkan5272 that’s true, tho I think 🇨🇾Cyprus will backfire 🇹🇷Turkey by vetoing it’s 35-year-long desire of joining the 🇪🇺EU 😂

[@butchkaminsky9470]

Is Iceland part of NATO? I don't hear much about them, besides the high cost of a vacation and not having any McDonald's on the island. That might be a good idea off hand. 😃

[@luciustitius]

According to the widsom of famous Austrian film director Bill Wilder for them it is no big deal appearing neutral while being drawn to one side in one topic and to another side on another is part of this very special talent. It is an old historic thing showing in a very old saying - Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube. They’re geniuses.

[@seneca983]

It's probably more useful for everyone if Austria stays neutral. It can still function as a mediator. Finland and Sweden quite likely can't do that in the same way anymore.

[@sogley]

Excellent presentation, very informative.

[@therealzilch]

As a resident of Austria since 1982, I can say that this was a pretty well balanced report. Two pertinent recent factors should also be mentioned: one, we have taken in about 70,000 Ukrainian refugees so far and are trying to get them what they need, although hampered by the still cumbersome Austrian bureaucracy. And two- 80% of our natural gas still comes from Russia. Ouch. That takes a big bite out of the effectiveness of the sanctions we are also applying. What to do is one of the hottest issues here right now. Everyone agrees that we need to quit our dependence on Russia (or Putin], but it's not at all obvious how. Many hope that this is our chance to cut down our use of fossil fuels altogether, but that's easier said than done, especially in a hurry. Cheers from sunny Vienna, and Slava Ukraina, Scott

[@lucasamorelliribeirokornex60]

As much as I like the idea to have Austria inside NATO, I don't think that will not happen anytime soon. The Austrian neutrality and the traditionalism that we developed since the end of WWII are part of our identity, and that will not change unless the threat of War is really next to us.

[@user-jd7gh2ef4s]

Only 400 km to the Ukraine border, maybe it's time wake up from those eternal peace dreams. You don't have to join NATO, but you need to invest in your defence.

[@Mohohoh]

Why don't all countries declare to remain neutral. Less military spending for all. Peace and kind regards from Austria :)

[@realmart3451]

Pro NATO Estonian here. Why would it join NATO? It has no real threat to it and would just be drawn in to foreign affairs it has no stakes in.

[@ERMediaOfficial]

As an Austrian, I can confirm this is a solid video^^

[@ems4884]

Austria. We love you. Come join the club.

[@philardo]

As an austrian, I can't say anyone even favors the idea of NATO membership in the slightest. Our neutrality is just a general thing, that seemingly has no alternative I actually kinda like the though of joining the bloc, since it'd favor both sides and the biggest enemy of NATO is a fascist empire, with zero regards for neutrality to begin with. Plus we're basicly with them in every aspect, except militarily. Although with the expected higher militarization there's probably gonna be loads of issues and I certainly don't want to be conscripted if things go wrong. But alas it's hardly and rarely a question. And with that in mind, I hope if anyone ever sweeps through nato, they'll respect our neutrality Also on the topic of Russia, I feel like everyone just generally liked them, back in the day. When I was in school, we just memed them a lot, but always in the light of them being these strong, badass super soldiers. Although I don't know what adults back then thought, I don't see anyone of any age still stand with Russia. Even people who supported the invasion at the head start, got behind the propaganda in only so much as days

[@samatha1994]

Austria is part of the EU which includes the commitment that *" if an EU country is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other EU countries have an obligation to aid and assist it by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter."* Vienna has said it plans to participate in the EU’s plan to create a Rapid Deployment Capacity of up to 5,000 troops, as codified in the Strategic Compass proposal

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

Pls explain to me how UN-Charter is linked to EU ... these are two different organiziations?

[@HingerlAlois]

@@clever_mag_smart5655 The Article 51 of the UN basically says that countries have the right to defend themselves and their allies if attacked, that’s why the EU mentions it. „Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.“

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

@@HingerlAlois Thank you!

[@zaxarispetixos8728]

Except if you are turkey in cyprus and greece we do buisness with you because cheap labor.

[@JulianSloman]

That's hilarious - I just noticed that earlier today when there was a zoomed out view - apparently some others noticed too

[@angiki9988]

Neither Austria nor Switzerland have any incentive to join NATO. They are already de facto protected by NATO by virtue of being surrounded by NATO states, and no NATO country would want to invade them in the current state of geopolitics in Europe.

[@zimtwiers9726]

The region is defended yes, however if the east falls and NATO has to decide where to deploy its troops on the frontline, Austria would ofcourse be waay lower on the priority list than others like Italy for example. Whilst it could still be attacked as a neutrak state. Look at Belgium and the fact that Nazi Germany still really considered to invade both Neutral Sweden and Switzerland.

[@sebastiangruenfeld141]

@@MrPatch25 I don't think you understand. Why would Austria or Switzerland need aid when any potential invader would need to go through the NATO countries surrounding them?

[@MrPatch25]

@@sebastiangruenfeld141 it's called contributing and I understand perfectly

[@stekra3159]

A nato contry in vading is the most likly canary we are surind by non alyed nations and we will prepare crodingyl

[@getnohappy]

All the protection and none of the hassle of having to do anything. Sounds perfect.

[@ricardo53100]

NATO should charge Austria a premium for that.

[@u.s.navy_pete4111]

Not ALL the protection, but pretty much, yeah

[@connorbranscombe6819]

@@ricardo53100 How? They arent part of NATO lol, would be pretty fuckin tyrannical to start extorting people for "protection money"

[@f1chtl]

@@ricardo53100 why? Not like we asked our neighbors to join. Why dont you pay for my car? It benefits both of us.

[@businessgoose5731]

Why do you not include Finnmark, Norways northernmost region, in the map of NATO? It is also covered by article 5. I have seen this on several of your thumbnails recently

[@MaxiTB]

Austrians never ever had strong intentions to join any military alliance after WW2. And Austria was pretty much surrounded by Warsow pact and NATO countries for 40 years. Military plans and preparations accounted for both a NATO or a Soviet invasion equally, just because we war now surrounded by just one doesn't change the fact that Austria is still surrounded by non-allied countries.

[@Nerfclap]

As an Austrian citizen I can tell you we won't ever join NATO. We are proud to be neutral. We are proud to be an important neutral ground for the east and west to negotiate and it is important for us to be neutral to keep important world organisations as mentioned in Austria. Since we are in the EU we are already indirectly woven into the NATO. Therefore it just does not make any sense for us to join. It would actively worsen our political and economical standing in the non western world while providing no benefit to us in reality.

[@clever_mag_smart5655]

well said!

[@matteo2297]

By this logic every country west of Poland could leave because nato will protect you anyway, except the reason that nato is so strong is that as many countries that align with it’s views which also lie around the North Atlantic join in. What I’m basically saying is, it would be reasonable to contribute to the thing you’re benefiting from. Instead of freeloading like a bloodsucking leech.

[@bluegender2005]

Im not an Austrian, but been living in Vienna for almost 9 years now. Being myself from an Eastern European country, I am totally supporting Ukraine and am against Russia. But regarding the neutrality, Austrias role as a bridge builder in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, will revive the incentive for a non military alliance. We should also not forget that arming of NATO Countries (especially Germany!) following the Russian invasion of Ukraine projects very unsettling future perspectives - more weapons = more diplomatic leverage with competing powers = higher tensions.

[@Marvin-dg8vj]

Bridge building with Russia was tried in Germany and it failed completely because Russia is totally alien to the West. Austria is committed to EU sanctions which is taken as hostile to Putin already.The EU has also bought weapons for the Ukraine. A bigger problem is China.This would be a world wide showdown which would affect almost every country on earth.

[@karankapoor2701]

Austria is landlocked which helps

[@sinoroman]

ukraine is toast

[@Islandlifefornow]

Haha, I thought you said Australia. I was so confused listening to the episode for awhile. Great coverage on the history! 👏🙏🏼😁

[@fabiankroell1402]

Very well explained! Thanks!

[@CRAZYCR1T1C]

I honestly thought the title was Australia! That would be so funny if Australia did join NATO. NAPTO

[@BritishRoyalMapping]

Would love the rest of our family in nato. Us and Canada are already in nato but if New Zealand, Australia and other strong allied commonwealth countries that would be awesome

[@josephcosta1446]

@@BritishRoyalMapping India too?

[@joechapman3692]

@@josephcosta1446 never, they’ll support Russia until the end of time

[@JohnMacbeth]

@@josephcosta1446 No.

[@BritishRoyalMapping]

@@josephcosta1446 I like India but (not all) but about 50% of the country loves Russia. So yeah India as well but I don’t love them as much as Canada, Australia and New Zealand

[@Temo990]

Being landlocked has the disadvantage for Austria that leaving the EU is pretty much impossible because than they would be econimically landlocked (like switzerland is at the moment) at forced into unfavorable trading deals.

[@Duck-wc9de]

But you don't have the Danube? Wich is an internacional river. So they can export freely to a deep water port and then put those exports in a normal container carrier

[@kieferkarpfen6897]

@@Duck-wc9de yes

[@kostakatsoulis2922]

Also its called the NORTH ATLANTIC Treaty organization, so...

[@jurgenpetry6899]

That’s a bit shortsighted… Oh you want to transport stuff from Italy to Germany? guess you have to take the detour through France now. Same thing from East to Germany or Balkans to Germany, Austria has a good geographical position to negotiate favorable deals

[@Sollace]

0:29 "Which are linked down below" Uuuh... Did someone forget to put the links in? I can't see them in the description.

[@der.Schtefan]

Fun fact: The one gray seat on the "current Austrian government" seat map around 06:00 is the ex of H.C. Strache. The one from the video mentioned earlier ;)

[@botulinum721]

0:13, Cyprus is not part of NATO, only EU.

[@IamTheHolypumpkin]

Austria beware of Lichtenstein and especially Switzerland 😂. They could invade at any time without passing through NATO territory. Switzerland is also known for its occasional accidental invasions of it little neighbor Lichtenstein. Maybe thru play the long game and Lichtenstein is in on it 😂. Also Switzerland is probably the only country which could navigate the Alps with heavy military equipment. A Swiss Austrian war is real! Just kidding it extremely unlikely Swiss and Austria are friendly neighbors and only compete in skiing, tunnel and gondola building.

[@davidty2006]

Lichtenstien will leave with 100 and come back with 1000.

[@stekra3159]

If switzerland invades

[@markuspeh529]

6:50 the armed forces as "natural disaster unit". There was a discussion some years ago in Austria, to focus exactly on that. The discussion was mainly because the army gets low spending and has also low use(currently) so some politicans(I think) mentioned that the military could be changed to just focus on natural disasters and basically having not any real fighting military.

[@raphaelantonrainer]

Bundesheer is a Meme🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹

[@AEIOU05]

In October the government did a whole 180 and announced that the federal army would again be fully focusing on national Defence

[@NotDumbassable]

LOLnope, this is a situation in which we get to have our cake and eat it. There is literally no upside to joining NATO for Austria, only obligations. We are surrounded by NATO and have no coastline, so for us to have _any_ military conflict, someone would have to go through NATO first.

[@Psychx_]

The Austrian govt has planned to raise the military spending to 1.5% of it's GDP, since the aspect of natural disaster response is close to a collapse too, as the military has been financially neglected for so long. Natural disaster response and prevention is important, but I would prefer if at least some of that reallocated money had been spent on compensating the economic consequences of the current geopolitical situation (including supply chain issues).

[@lieutenantundercover9329]

Like others already pointed out in the comments that a NATO aliance would not benefit Austria at all. If Russia wants to attack Austria they would need to invade Hungaria and then Russia is already at war against NATO. And NATO would 100% place troupes in Austria to get a strategic advantage and to prevent Russia on getting closer to Germany or France for example, even though Austria is not in NATO.

[@Rob_F8F]

That's interesting. In the scenario you described where Russia invaded Hungary (and therefore NATO), do you think that the placing of NATO troops in Austria be the result of an invitation by the Austrian government or without an invitation?

[@lieutenantundercover9329]

@@Rob_F8F Invited. Austria would not reject any help when threatened. And Austria already lets Nato troups thraspass it's territory. I can not imagine a scenario where Austria would refuse any help and working together even thought not being a member

[@ricardo53100]

Your analysis is correct and that further proves that Austria is sponging off the rest of NATO.

[@u.s.navy_pete4111]

@@lieutenantundercover9329 You make 100% sense.

[@sinoroman]

not worth it due to their geography. plus, NATO demands land, human, and monetary capital from members

[@uncinarynin]

Chancellor Karl Nehammer has been criticized for declaring the debate about joining an alliance closed before it even began. There has been an "open letter" calling for an open debate (with open outcome), and it seems like people are actually starting to discuss which future would be best. Joining NATO would also mean more obligation to invest in the military and help defending other countries. Which isn't that popular in Austria.

[@QiuSe]

Reminder that over 80% of Austrians are against joining, with 63% being strongly against it. The discussion has been over before it began

[@vilena5308]

Very good piece.

[@8-0-0-8-5]

Oh boy here we go. Part of the issue here is that we in Austria know, on some instinctive level, that if anybody were to ever attack us, we have little to no useful defense. Our defense force is composed of officers and raw recruits - many thanks to the mandatory draft which has for almost a decade now resulted in a 6-month rotation of unwilling draftees (down from 9 months, and I believe even 12 months at some point in the past) - ageing vehicles, and half-baked modernization (which has itself been subject to many a controversy). At the same time, there are still deep rooted fears of ending up on the wrong side - again. The last two times Austria wasn't neutral, we 1st) lost huge chunks of what was formerly an empire, 2nd) got occupied and carved up and only by some good fortune didn't simply vanish from the world map, not to mention 3rd) being on the wrong side of history twice in a row makes you reluctant to try a third time. There also seems to be an incorrect conflation of neutrality and pacifism, which makes the low, low military spending less surprising. There's been enough insanity going on with the coof response and government corruption that we're not super willing to look beyond our borders right now. NATO is a whole other can of worms, too, one that we've been trying to stay out of for quite some time. You don't just flip that position in a month or two. The "close ties" to Russia have been repeatedly criticized for decades now. Neutrality unfortunately means you might be friendly with someone else's enemy. People don't like that, especially if it's somebody they personally consider an antagonist (Russia, anybody?) Obviously this same split plays out within Austria as well, and "ties to Russia" has long been a sledgehammer the politicos have swung at each other. So as per usual, it's all massively more complex than can be covered in any one video, and there's no good answer to the question of "why isn't Austria in NATO", nor is there a good answer to "should Austria be in NATO". Ultimately I'd conclude that going forward, we'd either have to be a) aggressively neutral and highly defensive of our borders, with well trained, supplied, motivated, and proud armed forces or b) bow to NATO and the EU and kick neutrality out for good. A is hard to do and expensive, B is risky and expensive and goes against the tradition of neutrality. So yeah... Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Now we should all go touch grass and enjoy some sunshine instead of worrying about geopolitics.

[@ricardo53100]

Austria is not neutral. Austria joined the EU and you are bound to come to the defense of your fellow EU members. Do you not realize that ?

[@8-0-0-8-5]

@@ricardo53100 We're also bound by our constitution, and if the contents of that document are to have any value at all, permanent neutrality (whether it's right or not) will have to be voted out first.

[@stekra3159]

Was meist du wie Österreichs Sicherheitspolitik aussehen soll?

[@Blake5467]

This wouldn't be a TL;DR video without being told about Brilliant

[@MTTT1234]

A really well done video, with good insights into the historical context and current situation. As for Austria and its neutrality during the cold war: Well, with what we know now, we were really using our neutrality as a 'psychological fig-leaf' so to speak. We always told ourselves for decades that because we are a neutral nation, nothing can happen to us in case war broke out between NATO and the Warsaw pact. But around the year 2000, we found out how incredibly naive this idea was. It turned out that the Soviet forces in Hungary had stationed somewhere around a dozen or so nuclear missiles and all of them were pointed at Austria. Not even the Hungarian government itself knew of the existence of these missiles until the Soviets withdrew from Hungary. Two of these missiles would have carried a 500 kiloton strong warhead and were both aimed at Vienna, and from the warplans of the Soviets that were released to the public, we now know that in any case of conflict, the USSR forces in Hungary would have vaporized Vienna (our capital with all our instituations), Wiener Neustadt (location of our military academy), our largest military training sites, and possibly even a place Salzburg, as there was the main bunker complex for our government. Yet because of our neutrality, we just ignored every possibility of such attacks, thus we could tell us how save we are and thus not need to spend more on any kind of defense or safety meassurements like large public bunkers in our largest cities, etc. One could say we we were kind of walking through the cold war as if we were stoned on our neutrality.

[@Lasershadow]

American Here: As long as Austria is not threaten by Putin and other bully nations I don't see why them not joining is a problem. If it wasn't that Finland and Sweden risked being the next Ukraine I would not even be interested in whether or not they joined. As others have said their surrounded by NATO members, their safe. As long as they don't harbor NATO enemies there is no problem.

[@mattevans4377]

Austria should join an alliance of neutrality with Switzerland.

[@twrampage]

For a moment I thought the title said Australia and I was wondering if they had just run out of video ideas.

[@sstff6771]

As austrian i have to say its a great video👏👏

[@robforan7876]

Great as always. Just @2:41 you used the UN flag instead of NATO

[@simonmultiverse6349]

At the start of World War II, The Nazis tried to threaten Switzerland. Nazis: "Join us or die" Switzerland: "No" Nazis: "We will annex your country. Our army is twice the size of yours." Switzerland: "In that case, each of us will have to fire twice."

[@christophernicolson5086]

Switzerland historically is extremely militaristic and used to supply mercenaries to all the major armies and fought all the major battles in Europe. Their neutrality came about because they turned upto a fight (as mercenaries) and became rather upset that other side was also employing Swiss mercenaries.

[@sinoroman]

switzerland was leaning towards germany anyways, until america joined the war. switerzerland was investing in germany

[@connorbranscombe6819]

@@sinoroman Switzerland was surrounded on all sides by the Nazis and Fascist Italy, fair enough they were trying to play friendly with them, its not like they pulled a Romania and joined the Axis.

[@sinoroman]

Switzerland was smart in leaning on them without joining them

[@stanjenkinson4520]

Nice to see a real live human being talking to me instead of some robotic voice

[@adamabele785]

It does not change anything if Austria joins NATO or not, it will not join Russia either. Austria is only a very small military power and won´t tip the scale in any direction. Austria also wants to maintain its role when it comes to international organization and diplomacy. And the neighbors do not bother about Austrian neutrality either.

[@ZiggyBoon]

The last time the Austrians had anything like a formidable army the Archduke Charles was in charge. Austrians are much better at gemutlichkeit!

[@ERPCoder]

We've never been good at war. "Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube" 👰🤵💘🕊 was our motto since the 15th century. Neutrality is a very convenient way of doing nothing and not being responsible for anything.

[@ridhaali]

Did anyone notice that none of the vids they say are linked below are actually linked?!!

[@TheMetalfreak360]

Austria is a country I knew very little of during the Cold War and today. Interesting to see the whys to not joining for example.

[@MaxiTB]

On military spending, Austria doesn't have a professional army but uses conscription and universal mandatory military service. So it had in the past a huge reserve force, tons of weapons and the military strategy was always to make it as expensive as possible for a potential invader. Because Austria never had colonies, there's no need for a huge costly offensive military force and those mentioned UN missions are 100% voluntary. Austria's strong point and reason for it's survival is after all diplomacy, spending more on military doesn't make that much difference considering the size of the military blocks surrounding us.

[@masonhancock5350]

Never had colonies? The Austro-Hungarian Empire would like a word.

[@MaxiTB]

@@masonhancock5350 Name one :-) If you actually know your Austrian history, you may also come up with the single colony my country was holding for two weeks.

[@amrutheshumashankar4996]

@@MaxiTB lmao the whole balkans were a de facto colony of Austria Hungary

[@MaxiTB]

​@@amrutheshumashankar4996 Balkan countries were under the rule of the Ottoman empire. There for sure were not Austrian colonies in any regard, at best there were some time limited occupations. At other territories were full integrated into the empire under the 1000 year old feudal system, so again, no colonies.

[@AEIOU05]

The entire Austrian military doctrine throughout the second half of the Cold War was to make entrance into Austria as costly and wasteful as possible. The Hungarian people’s army for example concluded that even with its entire might, it could not pass through Austria without massive support from the Soviet Military. This was without counting in NATO, which would probably have helped Austria with Italian and German troops, given that they could hold the initial phases of the Warsaw pact invasion

[@RotalHenricsson]

We're neutral and we're staying neutral. That's why.

[@adamkaufman724]

Totally read this as "Australia" and I was like, this better just be a picture of a map

[@KhaalixD]

Great video!

[@maxthecharacter1296]

Why join the alliance when the alliance is all-around you like a shield? Logically, Austria doesn't need to join NATO because it enjoys the protection of NATO without dealing with some of the burdens that comes with it. Like it was said in the video, Austria is a land-locked nation with NATO members around them. What's the chances of them being threatened by a Russia invasion when their NATO members can do all the work for them before Russia can even taste their air? Answer: Absolutely zero.

[@iqbalindaryono8984]

I mean, NATO could just let the Russians in Austria, cheaper Russian gas would be a boon for several of its members. It would be political suicide to do the above but claiming someone would definitely help a freeloader is a pretty bold claim.

[@maxthecharacter1296]

@@iqbalindaryono8984 Such a scenario isn't possible, but I do like the thought behind it. Indeed, if Austria was located almost anywhere else, NATO won't help a freeloader. However, their location within NATO members really makes it dangerous for the alliance if they allow Russia to cross through their members just to attack Austria, who one could argue is near the geographical heart of NATO. That's especially holds because of the no-fly zone placed by EU members (many of whom are in NATO). So a breach by Russia would immediately activate Article 5 and start a world war, right before Russia could reach Austria.

[@user-jd7gh2ef4s]

400km to the Ukraine border. That shield is as thick as an egg shell. You are in striking distance of Russia missiles and your air force hardly will intercept Russian air forces longer than for some hours/days. Might be not a very likely scenario, but just keep in mind no one expected Hitler to invaded half of Europe, neither. Prepare for the worst if you want peace, because it will be too late if you wait till you get attacked. And in case of an attack, you will fight that war by your own (probably you won't fight anyway, because with this typical socialist attitude, you anyway expect others do the work/the fighting for you, but no one will).

[@yoshu4221]

Honestly, it's fine that they're militarily neutral. There are so many hurdles to an invasion of Austria that an invasion of their country is nearly impossible. Any aggressor would have to go through NATO territory/airspace. Even if they did get invaded, they're in the EU and the common defense clause would probably trigger, and at that point the US would likely enter as well. Short of a psychotic break from a certain hostile dictator, which I guess is a non-zero possibillity now, they're safe. They can act as a conduit for international diplomacy.

[@andrew7825]

Is it? Imagine Slovakia gets dragged into the Russia - Ukraine war. The Slovak capital, Bratislava, is minutes from Vienna.

[@valentinmitterbauer4196]

@@andrew7825 If slovakia, a Nato member, gets dragged into a war with russia i wouldn't be concerned about how fast russian troops could reach bratislava, considering that a nuclear missile only needs minutes. NATO vs Russia in direct conflict means atomic anihilation anyway. And the only chance for austria to not get nuked in such a scenario is to stay neutral.

[@stekra3159]

No aggressor woud have crossed nato if anything a nato country attacking is the most likely reason for a war. Austria is still surrounded by non alinged nations. And I think nato members would back ther side. Rember good relation with our nabors are and always have bean our first and beast wall of defence with the bundesheer being a disstend second,

[@kelleycrockett3387]

Excellent thank you

[@basharbodhisattva8404]

Austria's agreed upon perpetual official neutrality is why Austrian reunification was allowed as early as 1955 whereas by contrast, it took another 35 years for German reunification to come to fruition in 1990.

[@perfboi69]

Maybe because some European countries don’t want to be tied down to supporting whatever the USA wants, and they value being able to make their own choices hence the military non alignment.

[@yourtime]

As austrian, no. Happy to be neutral

[@herosstratos]

Austria does participate in several NATO / EU military staffs / command structures. But of course Austria has no intention of terminating the Austrian State Treaty. Pacta sunt servanda.

[@jensschroder8214]

Austria still has good relations with Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Balkan countries. Hungary is literally Vienna's back garden.

[@nirfz]

Pretty good video! The only thing, i think, that is missing, is that the moscow protocols as you called it resulted in the austrian "Staatsvertrag" (state treaty) which is a valid treaty to this day. Signed by the 4 big winning countries and austria. (the original copy of the treaty is in moscow) So, in order to join NATO this treaty would need to be dissolved which would need the 4 WW2 winning big powers(or their inheriters) to agree that austria could join NATO. One of the 4, as we all know, is russia... So in contrast to Finland and Sweden (who opted for neutrality out of their own will decades ago) austria "needs to ask for permission".

[@stekra3159]

I mean theoretically if ther were a NATO referendum and it got the majority we would just change the construction a russia could not really do much but complaine.

[@dennisammann9104]

Thanks for the education about Austria and NATO. I didn’t know Austria was a neutral country. 🤔

[@nirfz]

Out of curiosity, did you think austria was part of NATO?

[@dennisammann9104]

@@nirfz Yes, I thought Austria was a member nation of NATO. 🤔

[@nirfz]

@@dennisammann9104 thanks for answering!

[@dennisammann9104]

@@nirfz You’re very welcome. BTW, I love Austrian folk music! Although I don’t speak the language, I love to listen and watch the musicians play their instruments. I also love to listen to German and Swiss folk music too. 😀🪗🎼🎵🎶🇦🇹 Best regards to you my friend from across the pond in California. 🖖🙂🌞✨🇺🇸

[@nirfz]

@@dennisammann9104 🙂 Cool thing! Greetings from the alps! Random fact to our folk music: One of the Dubliners (famous irish folk music group) once said in a documentary about their group, that his sister was in austria for some time, and sent him records of our folk music. He liked it a lot too.

[@santiagoalcantara3806]

7:15 which potential? I mean it have sense in Swedish and Finland cases but there is no any strategic reason to join for Austria. Even more there is strategyc deterrence to not join as not be involved in a war that strategily don't matter for Austria.

[@viewer-of-content]

I read your video title as Australia accidentally, and wondered how the hell Austrailia would join a NORTH ATLANTIC pact from the South Pacific🤔 Then the video played and I realized I had the wrong A. nation.

[@matthewwatson3593]

Austria is bound by permanent neutrality irrc constitutional along with never rejoining germany although it is in the eu which makes it arguable not completely neutral. As long as it remains independent surrounded by friendly nato states it has no reason to join any military alliances it's a small developed country that can serve now as a fair and balanced diplmatically anyway meditator between the western powers and Russia or and possibly China in the future to find settlements and compromises Edit: Plus if it joined nato or any other alliance it would lose lots of diplomatic leverage as a mediator and just be another nato state. Historically austria has always had an okay military but excellent diplomatic influence even as far back as the days of the empire.